Be careful what you wish for, LSU

[jbcarol]

Ivan Maisel ‏@Ivan_Maisel 3m3 minutes ago

Be careful what you wish for, @LSUfootball. On the firing of Les Miles: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17639364/lsu-tigers-fans-miss-les-miles-more-realize

He came into LSU and produced a level of success never achieved by any of his 29 predecessors in Baton Rouge, and somehow, that's not enough.

It is not something that Walter Camp decreed when he came up with the line of scrimmage and the center snap. It is not written in the 216 pages of the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations. Only in the state of Louisiana is it carved into stone tablets and handed down from on high that LSU must win 10 games a season.

No, check that. Miles won 114 games in 11-and-one-third seasons and he's down at the Baton Rouge U-Haul buying boxes.

On the very weekend that Miami, under new head coach Mark Richt, rose to No. 14 as Georgia, which fired Richt after he averaged a 10-3 record for 15 seasons, got humiliated at Ole Miss and fell out of the polls, LSU fired Miles so that it could hire someone more successful.

Miles had a record of 114-34 (.770) with the Tigers. If you're looking for context of how good that is, consider that a career record of .600 makes a coach eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame. Consider that it's better than the record of his predecessor, Nick Saban (48-16, .750). Or just consider this: Miles began this season as one of five active head coaches who had won a national championship...

On the very weekend that Tennessee extracted itself from the eight-year sinkhole it fell into after firing Phillip Fulmer, LSU decided that five losses in nine games is untenable. Think about that for just a minute, Tigers fans.

Fulmer went 5-7 in 2008, one year after his ninth 10-win season in Knoxville, and Tennessee fired him. In 102 games since Tennessee fired Fulmer, the Vols are 53-51. That includes being 4-0 as we speak, after those 38 consecutive points against Florida that exorcised every ghost of the Derek Dooley era and the Lane Kiffin year.

There is no guarantee that firing someone as successful as Miles will result in a better program. It's just as possible that LSU won't be able to hire a coach as successful as Miles. There's a long list of schools that got rid of someone who was winning and got worse.

    Nebraska...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/781834516193243136

"The feel we get from speaking with folks in the profession," Roussell said, "is that Jimbo might not feel the same way now (as he did in 2015); but this door doesn't seem fully closed and LSU officials certainly don't believe it is."

Herman is believed by many to be the Tigers' No. 1 choice. Roussell said LSU thinks the Cougars coach should be a strong candidate, but that "it does not necessarily appear that the feeling is reciprocal at this time."

"As with Fisher, I'm not saying the door is closed," Roussell said, "people always listen; but the feeling I get from speaking with those connected is that Herman might continue to consider other options (including remaining at Houston) before jumping to LSU.

"Point being, ...

Point being, neither would probably get LSU boosters excited after the season either would suffer if they held a presser exclaiming, "I'm just mailing the rest of this one in until we can move to Baton Rouge."

On the other hand, if LSU did not have their man privately locked up...

Coaches look at how Les was handled and will take note. To mention, "Welcome to the SEC-West".

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/781589587911184385